Mesa

When Estancia High Coach Mike Bargas exchanged game tapes with Costa Mesa Coach Jeremy Osso this week, he came away smiling. “He’s personable, approachable,” said Bargas, who liked what he saw in Osso and also from his team on film. Estancia has beaten teams like Mesa this year. If it weren’t for the Mustangs’ locking up their first win of the year in an Orange Coast League opener Monday and earning a forfeit win Thursday, Estancia would’ve met another winless football team tonight at Newport Harbor High at 7. Each of the Eagles’ four wins have come against teams with zero wins.

Bryce Alderton Costa Mesa High Coach Tim Postiff enters this girls water polo season much the same way as he did for the just-concluded boys campaign. The returners are many and expectations are high. Postiff, who coaches both teams, had just enough time to catch his breath after leading the boys squad to its first CIF Southern Section playoff victory in seven years Nov. 11 to the girls season opener Tuesday, which Mesa won. The transition, though, should come smoothly with five of six starters returning from a team that won the Golden West League championship for the program's first outright league.

Bryce Alderton In addition to fielding the best high school boys golf team he can, Costa Mesa Coach Tom Baldwin enters every year with another task. Finding clubs for some of his players. "It's a challenge, we're starting from scratch," said Baldwin, in his ninth season at the helm. "Most of these kids don't have golf clubs. They use our clubs until they get into it and buy their own. We deal with this every year." Baldwin estimated friends of the program donated four sets of clubs this spring and he even bought a new set of irons for the team.

HUNTINGTON BEACH - Visiting Costa Mesa High dropped a nonleague boys volleyball match to Ocean View, 15-5, 15-1, 15-7, Thursday, but Coach Dave Sorrells found some positives. "In the third game, I put in sophomores John Santos, Gilbert Landeros and Jason Hardy and they all made great defensive plays," Sorrells said. "We actually led, 6-3, in that third game, because of the lift those guys gave us. Some of our (starters) are still having a hard time understanding the mental approach it's going to take to win."

Bryce Alderton Costa Mesa High's CIF Southern Section Division II first-round boys water polo game Thursday against visiting La Habra carried significance beyond merely extending a season. For the Mustangs' upperclassmen, primarily the six seniors, the contest offered an opportunity to affirm an ascent that began roughly three years ago, when Mesa found itself in the depths of the Pacific Coast League. The host Mustangs, though, seized the moment Thursday, scoring five first-period goals while adding strong defense late to earn the program's first CIF playoff victory in seven years following a 10-6 triumph over the Highlanders at Estancia High.

Chris Yemma Three teams highlight the 2004-05 Costa Mesa High boys athletic year, but one in particular stands out after winning a CIF Southern Section title. The Mustangs swim team, keyed by the 400-yard freestyle relay unit of seniors Adam Douglas and Evan Spencer, along with junior Kyle Thorsness and freshman James Fowler, won its third straight Golden West League championship. The relay team won the CIF Southern Section Division III title -- with a bit of luck.

FIRST-DAY RESULTS Joey Benedetti — 63   MESA LINDA COURSE CHAMPIONSHIP FLIGHT   Kevin Irwin — 65 Amit Chopra — 66 Jamie Estrada — 66 Hollis Kelley — 67 Danny Lane — 67 Adam Marshall — 67 Andrew Elliott — 68 Mike Fox — 68 Mike Fox — 68 Andy Horner — 68 Mitchell McCarthy — 68 Greg Valentine...

Four Costa Mesa High School students representing Cal State Fullerton's Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement Team, placed third in the nation at the 2007 MESA USA National Engineering Design Competition. Juan Dominguez, Dorian Flores, Richard Kyo and Ted Lee received their diplomas at their graduation June 21, then boarded a plane that night to participate in the competition June 22 through 24 at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. The students designed and built a trebuchet, a "type of catapult with a sling on the end … that demonstrated distance, accuracy and power," as well as a custom travel case for the device.

Barry Faulkner WESTMINSTER - In the second half of a rare daylight football doubleheader, it was the home run ball that proved the undoing for Costa Mesa High Saturday at nonleague host Westminster. The Lions (1-1), taking advantage of man-to-man perimeter pass coverage by the Mustangs (1-1) rolled up 287 aerial yards, including three touchdowns, to earn a surprising 22-16 victory. Westminster junior quarterback Fidel Gonzalez, who completed 10 of 21 for 73 yards, with two interceptions, in the Lions' 35-14 opening-week loss to Pacifica, confounded Costa Mesa Coach Dave Perkins by connecting with wide-open receivers all day. "That wasn't the same guy I saw last week," Perkins said of Gonzalez, who made his varsity debut last year against Mesa by completing 6 of 9 for 194 yards and a touchdown.

Is cheer a sport? That is a widely debated question throughout the United States. While critics may argue that the current format of cheerleading is more of an activity than a sport, there is a new sport on the horizon and cheer plays a main role in it. To help with the current NCAA Title IX, USA Cheer has developed a new sport to fit the Title IX requirements and it is called STUNT. Across the nation, colleges and universities have begun competing in games in this new format.

In Newport-Mesa, the Sea Kings are, well, the kings of college-preparedness, according to the Washington Post. The newspaper has ranked Corona del Mar High School the highest in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and placed it nearly 100 spots above the best-ranked Irvine Unified High School. "For the first time any of us can ever remember, Newport-Mesa outranked Irvine this year," Assistant Supt. Charles Hinman said during Tuesday's school board meeting to applause.

A self-described "skinhead" was arrested on suspicion of stabbing a man multiple times, police said Wednesday. Andrew James Jurjaks, 29, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, according to Costa Mesa police. Police found the 36-year-old victim bleeding from wounds on his left arm and back about 4:20 a.m. Tuesday at the Circle K market, 111 Del Mar Ave., according to a news release. The victim was transferred to a local hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

SANTA ANA — An attorney for pink-slipped Costa Mesa employees urged a three-judge panel Wednesday to keep in place a court-ordered injunction that prevents the city from starting to implement a plan to outsource some workers' jobs. But attorneys for the city argued in the Court of Appeal that city hall is well within its rights to find less expensive ways to serve residents. "If a city has the power to provide a service, it has the power to contract it," argued Richard J. Grabowski, a Jones Day law firm attorney representing the city.

More than $50,000 was raised for local public schools at the 29th annual Newport-Mesa Spirit Run. Spirit Run President and Race Director Diane Daruty presented the Newport-Mesa Unified School District with a check during its March 8 meeting for $50,593 for the 16 schools in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa that participated in the event. The race, which has nonprofit status, also donated $2,520 for lock boxes, which brought the total donation to $53,113. "We're very committed and proud that the Newport-Mesa Spirit Run gives every student in the community the chance to participate," Daruty said at the meeting.

Marshall B. Krupp wants to see business handled differently in Costa Mesa, so he has added his name to the list of City Council candidates. "It's time for there to be a new, refreshing approach to representing the community," said Krupp, a business consultant who has lived in the city for eight years. "I want to bring a nonpolitical approach to decision-making. " Although a registered Republican, Krupp, 62, said he doesn't align himself with any one political party or a particular member of the council.

The community of Mesa del Mar, located between the Orange County Fairgrounds and Baker Street in Costa Mesa, has been a great place to live for many years, 34 in my case. I've raised three sons here and spent many idyllic hours with my grandson, age 5 now, at TeWinkle Park. Angels Playground, the beautiful lakes, and the area's ducks and fountains are sought-after destinations for many families. The proposed privatization of the athletic complex between the Mesa del Mar tract, Davis Magnet School and TeWinkle Park, and directly across the street from the fairgrounds, is going to change things radically and, in my opinion, cause great harm to the area and the residents.

While recognition by the U.S. Small Business Administration as a national champion is nothing to sneeze about, the honor isn't what made Wendy Navarro tear up Monday. The Costa Mesa store owner got misty-eyed when talking about her 17-year-old daughter, Saige Nicole, whose name was used for Navarro's baby and toddler boutique in 2006. "It's so wonderful when she comes to me after she's seen an article on the store and says, 'Mom, I'm so proud of you,'" Navarro said. Navarro, alongside other business leaders, will be honored June 5 at the SBA's 49th annual Small Business Week Awards Celebration in Anaheim.

Planning Commissioner Colin McCarthy, who serves as president of the conservative Costa Mesa Taxpayers Assn., announced Monday that he is running for City Council in November. McCarthy, an attorney, is a supporter of the City Council majority, which is seeking to outsource some city employees and replace them with outside contractors. With Mayor Eric Bever termed out, there will be three open seats on the council. Also in the race are Councilmen Gary Monahan and Steve Mensinger, as well as medical marijuana advocate Sue Lester.

A federal appeals court decided Monday that cities do not violate the federal rights of the disabled when they shut down medical marijuana dispensaries - a ruling praised by Costa Mesa's legal counsel. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by severely disabled Californians who were authorized by their physicians to use marijuana for medical purposes. The patients sued the cities of Costa Mesa and Lake Forest, charging that the cities' attempts to close dispensaries violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)